


After Isolation

by theindiarussianqueen



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bisexual Dean, Coda, Declarations Of Love, Episode: s12e09 First Blood, First Kiss, Kissing, M/M, Men of Letters Bunker, Praying to Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 05:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9477368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theindiarussianqueen/pseuds/theindiarussianqueen
Summary: "If you're proposing an exchange of currency between us, I would like to inform you that my rates are likely out of your price range," Cas said dryly.Dean spluttered half-indignantly."Did you just make a prostitution joke... about yourself?!"Castiel frowned."Did I... do it wrong?"Or, the one where Dean confessed his feelings via prayer while he was stuck in that cell.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to a super solid episode. Always here for Hero!Cas. Though (spoiler) very sad to see Billie go! Speaking of spoilers, this one contains spoilers through 12x09 (first episode after hiatus).

Mary insisted on driving through the night despite her sons' protests, wanting to return them home quick as possible. Sam and Dean slept, while Castiel stared out the window.

Finally, as they reached Phillipsburg, maybe 45 minutes outside of Lebanon, Mary spoke up.

"I didn't have a chance to say thank you," she told him. "So... you know."

Cas smiled.

"I see where Dean inherited his ability to articulate his feelings from."

Mary snorted in laughter, covering her face with a hand once she remembered her sleeping sons. Once she'd ensured that neither had awoken due to her brief outburst, she relaxed her grip on the steering wheel.

"Shut up," she said fondly, smiling warmly at him through the rear view mirror. "I mean it. You really care about my sons, and you've been there to take care of them when I... I clearly haven't."

Castiel almost chastised her for implying that she had any choice in the thirty-odd years of separation from the boys since her death. He caught himself, not wanting to delve into the fact that she had left the boys to go off on her own for weeks on end.

"I care about you as well, Mary," he assured her in earnest. "Your sons - and the world - need you. And as I've come to know you, I've realized that so do I."

"You're sweet," she said. "And don't get me wrong, I appreciate everything that you did, I just don't know if the potential of 'cosmic consequences,' like Billie mentioned, are worth my life."

"Whatever may come at us, I'm sure we've dealt with worse," Cas reasoned. "A world without Winchesters is not one that could last particularly long." After a moderate, contemplative pause, he added, "And it isn't one I'd be fond of living in."

"I'm not one for this whole warm and fuzzy thing, but I don't want a world without you, either. And I guarantee my boys would say the same."

They shared a final look, before falling back into silence for the rest of the ride.

\---

The bunker was silent and dark when they finally returned. The two brothers let out sighs of relief at finally being home and safe after weeks alone in a cell.

Mary kissed her boys goodnight and promised to stay a few days to help them settle back in, and spend time together. A groggy Sam had even led her by the hand back to his room, and she'd followed in mild amusement to tuck her youngest in to bed. She would end up sleeping there that night, her presence providing comfort after weeks of deprivation.

That had left Dean and Castiel alone in the library, surrounded by awkward silence. Dean finally cut through the ear-splitting quiet that had tortured him for what had seemed like forever (with the exception of the thrice-a-day "Chow time!").

"How would you, uh... how would you feel about doing that creepy watch-me-when-I-sleep thing tonight?" he asked. "One time offer. Going once, going twice-"

"If you're proposing an exchange of currency between us, I would like to inform you that my rates are likely out of your price range," Cas said dryly.

Dean spluttered half-indignantly.

"Did you just make a prostitution joke... about yourself?!"

Castiel frowned.

"Did I... do it wrong?"

A grin spread slowly on Dean's face.

"No, buddy, it was great. Just not what I expected." He took a step in the direction of the hall leading to the bedrooms. "Would you...?"

"Of course."

Castiel followed Dean through the tiled halls of the bunker, past Sam's door, from which they heard two sets of snores. Finally, as the snores faded out of earshot, they arrived at Dean's bedroom door. The relief that flooded Dean's entire body as he stepped across the threshold was nearly palpable in the air. Cas breathed it in, along with the scent of Dean (too long without a shower had made the other man quite... pungent). He briefly averted his eyes as Dean stripped down to his white tee and boxers.

The moment the door had clicked shut behind them, Cas's arms were suddenly full of the hunter. Having gone rigid in surprise, Cas finally relaxed and pulled the other man into his body.

"Thank you," Dean murmured into Cas's neck, where he had hid his face in mild embarrassment at the display of affection. "For me and Sammy, and especially Mom. And helping us get the hell outta dodge-"

"I wish I could have done more sooner-"

"Would you shut the hell up?" Dean requested, a commanding edge just tinging his voice. "We're out, we're alive, and that's all that matters."

"I promise, I'll handle any consequences that arise from Billie's death on my own-"

"No, you won't," Dean insisted. "This is on every one of us. You wouldn't have had to kill her if I hadn't made a deal. And we're family around here, so I'm not about to let you off on your own to be some martyr for whatever cause."

They stood in each other's arms for unnecessarily long, basking in the comfort they provided one another.

"I missed you," Cas admitted finally. "And when you prayed to me... every night? That was torture. Unable to find you, to save you..."

"You heard me?"

"Every word," Cas answered."

"Oh," Dean said. "So you know about...?"

"What you said the other night?" Cas queried, to which Dean nodded. "I did hear that. Are we going to... talk about it?"

"I mean, what is there to say?" Dean finally pulled away from the angel, moving to sit on his bed. Cas stared at the space beside him hesitantly before Dean patted the bed in invitation. They sat side-by-side, knees inches from touching, and did not make eye contact. "I told you... how I felt. I can't imagine you return those... those _feelings_... so... what is there to talk about?"

"Do you really have that low of an opinion of yourself that you dismiss the possibility of someone else caring for you before you've heard their perspective?" The level of aggression in Cas's voice as he demanded an answer of Dean would have put the hunter back on his heels had he been standing. When Dean only managed to stutter out single syllables without forming coherent words let alone sentences, Cas continued. "Why is it that you don't allow yourself to believe that you can be cared for? That you are someone that _I_ in particular might care for?"

Dean sighed quietly.

"I think we're on two different pages here-"

"No, we aren't. What is it, Dean? Do you believe that I couldn't find you attractive? That I wouldn't be capable of loving you? Because I'm an angel? Or because I'm a man?"

Panic invaded Dean's body and mind, hearing words like that. Dean never spoke of love or attraction, and especially never as they pertained to men. Or his best friend.

"All of the above?" Dean confessed.

Cas set his jaw, his lips flattening into a thin line - quite an accomplishment for someone who, as Dean had often observed, had rather full lips.

"Your... blatant... _obtuseness_... is... maddening," Castiel stated, his composure and restraint surprising for the fury and anguish that was brewing behind his cerulean eyes. "I cannot begin to fathom how you managed to... to overlook how... how immensely attracted to you I am." Cas felt the shift in air in front of him as Dean inhaled sharply. "And _how many fucking times_ do I have to tell you in every way I know how that I cannot live without you?"

"Oh," Dean said simply. He fished for words, but nothing bit. He chose another pond, instead. "Um, does this mean...? You and me?"

"If you're referring to us establishing a relationship, I think that would be a logical next step," Cas answered, nodding self-assuredly. His badass persona - the one that consistently turned Dean on, often in the most inappropriate and inopportune of moments - had receded, leaving the awkward guy Dean had fallen for.

"Okay. Uh. I'm gonna need some time to adjust. Like, to calling you my... _boyfriend_ or _partner_ or whatever. And telling Sammy and Mom... I don't know how they're gonna take it-"

"Let's leave those issues to the morning," Cas suggested. "I... I would like to kiss you, if that's alright."

Blushing, Dean nodded, licking his lips subconsciously. A hesitant Cas leaned in, and ever so slowly, Dean met him halfway.

It wasn't fireworks-worthy by any means. Kissing a guy meant scruff, and Cas's scratched at Dean's face as they locked lips. Not to mention, Cas was inexperienced. From what he had seen of Cas's long-past kiss with Meg on their hunt for Crowley, his enthusiasm and fervor had compensated for the experience he lacked, but Cas was too hesitant to get Dean all sorts of hot under the collar through his assertiveness.

In all honestly, Dean wouldn't have been surprised if their teeth had clacked together or one of them had bitten the other's lip by accident.

They parted, both sheepish and well aware of the awkward nature of their first kiss. Dean let out a quiet laugh in embarrassment, to which Cas seemed to deflate. Quickly, Dean recuperated.

"Okay, um... loosen up a bit, hm? I know you're nervous, cause I am too, but... it's just us. And part your lips just so..." Dean reached up a hand to Cas's face to separate his lips ever so slightly. "Perfect. Tilt your head a little to the left and close your eyes for me."

Cas followed the instructions, and Dean leaned in to connect their lips again.

It was better this time around. Softer, but neither was holding back. They parted intermittently to take short breaths, but otherwise occupied themselves with getting to know the other's mouth better than their own.

"Mm, baby?" That was certainly new. Perhaps he was so used to calling the ladies he made out with by that nickname that it just happened to slip out. "Much as I want to keep doing this, or, you know, take things a step further, I haven't had a good nights sleep since early December, if that."

"Of course, Dean." Cas made to get up, but Dean stopped him before he could move any further than simply standing.

"Mind staying the night? I ain't had company in too long, and I'm not about to give it up when I've got it."

A barely-there grin graced the angel's face as he stripped down to a pair of boxers and retrieved a shirt from a drawer on Dean's dresser. Finally, he slipped into bed beside the other man, who shifted to pillow his head on Cas's chest.

"I'm glad I can be here with you," Cas confessed into the night. "Now, sleep. You need it."

"Love it when you get all authoritative on me."

Cas rolled his eyes in the darkness, for his own benefit, though he was sure Dean could practically hear the action in the silent room. He pressed a kiss to Dean's head.

"Sleep. I'll be here in the morning."

Safe and comforted, Dean fell into a dreamless sleep. And when he awoke around noon the next day, Cas was still there. The walls of his bedroom may still have been concrete reminiscent of his old cell, but wrapped up with someone this way, he knew without a doubt that his days of isolation were over.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please please please send me some feedback in the comments! This was a quick write and I would love to know your thoughts.


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